S04.E16: Where Are They Now? Zsalynn and Olivia

[Armchair Critic]

Quote

Zsalynn is ecstatic to get a fresh start, but she encounters some complications with her body lift; Olivia has become lonely and depressed since getting surgery, and she hopes to have skin-removal surgery soon.

Edited April 28, 2016 by HalcyonDays
Switched to episode format

[grumpypanda]

Zsalynn was getting on my nerves with her refusal to talk about numbers but I think it was a smart decision to shop around for a better skin removal surgeon.

Don't get me wrong I love Dr. Now but he doesn't have the hand of an artist when performing this particular surgery. From the little bit we saw of Zsalynn's healed wounds they looked much better than what we normally see on this show. I would probably want a Los Angeles doctor too.

[Ann Taylor]

Hi, newbie here, but I've been reading off and on for awhile.

 

Zsalynn was one of my favourites and I'm glad to see that she continues to make progress. She was wise to seek out a true plastic surgeon to do her skin surgery. One thing I noticed right away was that when he closed her wound he did subcuticular stitching as any good plastic surgeon would. Dr. Now seems to close his wounds with baseball-type sutures that will not leave as good a scar.

 

I could see both sides of the "numbers" issue. I liked Dr. Now's analogy about the number on the scale being like looking at the balance in your bank account. He's right that Zsalynn has (understandably) major issues about her weight being her identity and the number on the scale being symbolic of that. (Somehow, I think he has some help with these psychological formulations.) But at the same time, somebody like Zsalynn may need to break free of the numbers in order to break that pattern. It's kind of the obverse of anorexics being told that they need to take emphasis off the scale in order to heal. But it is true, eventually Zsalynn is going to have to make peace with the scale in order to continue losing and keeping the weight off, or else she needs to discover another way of checking her weight loss progress, which could be how her jeans fit her.

 

In another vein, dwelling on the numbers issue functioned as an "excuse" for Zsalynn to seek another surgeon for her skin surgery, since they can't very well have her say that she thinks another surgeon just might do a better job than Dr. Now.

 

Olivia is also doing well, but I think there was a lot there that we didn't see. I'd like to see the supersized version of this episode. I think there's some not-so-good dynamic going on with her and her twin sister. It alarms me that the sister is now so much larger than Olivia. I can't help but wonder how she can talk to Olivia about eating the wrong things when she's so heavy. And I can't help but think she must be envious of Olivia's success. I wonder why she doesn't seek help for herself.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Ann Taylor

[Armchair Critic]

I too thought that saying she didn't want to dwell on the numbers in order to have a different surgeon may have been a way to not insult Dr. Now and help him keep face.

 

Zsalynn and Olivia were both getting upset with Dr. Now bringing up their weight. Although Olivia I can understand that if she had knee pain it would be frustrating that he was acting like she was making it up and kept bringing up what she weighs.

 

Seems like everybody pronounces Zsalynn differently.

 

How did Zsalynn afford the skin removal surgery?

[Hero]

I would not go to Dr. Now for skin surgery either. I think he does a terrible job.

[Armchair Critic]

Maybe they do it to amp up the drama and create some excitement, but seems like during every surgery Dr. Now says they are going to lose the patient...

[4leafclover]

I've always liked Zsalynn but she seemed angry to me in this episode.  And yes, numbers on the scale are important--if she ignores them, there's a good chance she'll be back to her old weight again (and have Gareth wanting to marry her again!).

[Noirprncess]

While I was glad to see Zsalynn break away from Gareth, she seems to have returned to her previous way of thinking that lead her into that fat fetish group. I wondered if this was really the first time that she wasn't the center of attention (as she was in the group) and alone. I don't have high hopes for her and keeping the weight off.

Olivia also seemed to be losing steam. It's not good to see that she returned to drinking sodas. Being a chef is stressful.

[OhioMom]

Boy, the attitudes on this show!!!  I can't help but wonder, just a little bit, if Z's tears were because deep down, she too feels she needs to lose more weight to be happy.  She just doesn't look (facially) or act happy, period.   I think it goes much, much, much deeper than her weight and perceptions. She's  just not a happy person anymore.

 

And Olivia....so disappointed to see the way she was acting. Like a crackhead without her fix.  But it took her sister, agreeing with what Dr. Now was saying to motivate her to change...but no apology to Dr. Now for her rude, childish behavior.

 

He was getting slammed from all sides in that episode.

[CousinOliver]

Zsalynn was given the surgery for free from an organization called WLSFA. It looks like she's being called a "grant recipient", but there's also a lot of promoting the doctor (who donated services) and the organization on her FB. I'm guessing the public exposure was part of picking her for this grant (I haven't looked into how legit it is, how many other people have been awarded a grant, etc.)

[Guest dutronc]

Olivia is also doing well, but I think there was a lot there that we didn't see. I'd like to see the supersized version of this episode. I think there's some not-so-good dynamic going on with her and her twin sister. It alarms me that the sister is now so much larger than Olivia. I can't help but wonder how she can talk to Olivia about eating the wrong things when she's so heavy. And I can't help but think she must be envious of Olivia's success. I wonder why she doesn't seek help for herself.

 

Interesting--I thought the opposite. Olga (and the rest of Olivia's family) seemed the same size she was in the early episodes, which is not ideal, but it seemed stable, which is sometimes not the worst thing. I missed a few minutes of the beginning so I wondered why Olga was living in Houston at all because I thought she had a family in Chicago. I really liked the scene where Olga spoke bluntly to Olivia--to me, she framed it as, "you used to not drink soda, and now you do. You seem to be unhappier and slipping." Obviously, this could have been staged, but it occurred to me early on that maybe Olivia was transferring her addiction from food to pills, but it also seemed like she was really lonely and maybe negative attention (such as from Dr. Now) was better than no attention at all. Olivia has been one of my favorites from the start, so I'm totally biased, and I loved the scene at the gym where she climbed the giant ladder thingy.

 

Zsalynn also fascinated me because of her back story. I also appreciated how the counselor gave advice anyone can use. Yay, free therapy!

[Cherrio]

More of the same.  People have surgery, lose weight, then start gaining it back.    The surgery seems to make most of them look sickly too.

    Do either of these women have a job?

     Do any of these folks know what a broiler is? At the end of the show one was eating a large greasy steak and the other a plate of deep fried stuff.

 

     Oh, and I wish I had not seen that skin and fat removed from Zsalyn.  I thought my tv had switched over to a rerun of Silence of the Lambs.

[ClareWalks]

This was not a particularly inspiring episode. Olivia was getting on my last nerve with her "I don't eat that much! I just drink soda and eat things I'm not supposed to!" Ummm. Yeah. She seemed to get the hint by the end but who knows? I liked how her sister Olga was like "girl, let's be real, you're drinking and eating like shit."

 

Zsalynn definitely needed to see a therapist about her feeling judged by her weight. Of course Dr. Now focuses on numbers, they don't tend to lie. If the numbers aren't where he expects them to be, it's a signal to him that either the patient isn't following his orders or that his orders need adjustment. He sees these people maybe once a month maximum, so he needs some way to gauge their progress. If I had a very irregular training client, I'd probably ask about their weight and their activity/calorie levels whenever I saw them. It doesn't mean I don't value them as a person, it just means we need some sort of measurement of their health.

[Ann Taylor]

Interesting--I thought the opposite. Olga (and the rest of Olivia's family) seemed the same size she was in the early episodes, which is not ideal, but it seemed stable, which is sometimes not the worst thing. I missed a few minutes of the beginning so I wondered why Olga was living in Houston at all because I thought she had a family in Chicago. I really liked the scene where Olga spoke bluntly to Olivia--to me, she framed it as, "you used to not drink soda, and now you do. You seem to be unhappier and slipping." Obviously, this could have been staged, but it occurred to me early on that maybe Olivia was transferring her addiction from food to pills, but it also seemed like she was really lonely and maybe negative attention (such as from Dr. Now) was better than no attention at all. Olivia has been one of my favorites from the start, so I'm totally biased, and I loved the scene at the gym where she climbed the giant ladder thingy.

 

 

I should clarify, I agree that Olga looks to be about the same size as she was at the start. I didn't express it well but what I meant is that Olga used to be the smaller twin and now Olivia has lost so much weight, Olga is much larger by comparison. So one might expect there to be some kind of big change in their dynamic, and Olivia might rebel against Olga's authoritative attitude towards her, or Olga might begin to feel anger towards Olivia for surpassing her with the weight loss. Maybe I'm projecting my feelings onto them, but it seems like that would be a huge game-changer in a relationship that was as close as theirs, and seemed like a kind of symbiotic relationship. Olivia needed Olga's protection and Olga's life was about protecting Olivia. Does Olga have her own family outside her family of origin? I had the impression she's single and lived with Olivia and her mother while the mother was alive.

 

So much seemed to be missing from Olivia's segment. Olga was, to me, conspicuously missing during the end of the original episode and the first follow-up. I do remember Olivia mentioning in the original episode when she had lost enough weight that she was smaller than Olga. It took me by surprise that Olivia accepted Olga's advice so readily, when Olga is obviously far from having it together in the healthy eating department.

 

I felt that Dr. Now was really harsh with Olivia. He did do the x-rays but there could have been legitimate reasons for Olivia to be in pain that wouldn't show up on x-ray. I get where he was coming from about the slippery slope to weight gain, and he didn't want Olivia to backslide after doing so well. But he was really dismissive of her pain and what she had to say, I don't blame her for being angry at the time. I also wonder how her pain was resolved, because I don't think it was all about making excuses. And the allusion to her possibly developing an addiction to pills, without any kind of explanation, was frustrating.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Ann Taylor

[Cherrio]

I agree about this show never showing the real full story. They leave out the real tantrums which I suspect are pretty ugly. Specifically last night regarding Ann Taylor bringing up the pill addiction.  I assume they take narcotics after these surgeries and addiction is a very real possibility.   So, they should delve into it. It would add to the myriad of problems, not the least dealing with another serious addiction.

[Noirprncess]

The addiction angle made me wonder if that was just another issue in Olivia's past. Although, there are cases of transferral from one addiction to another.

[mrsjoe]

How did Zsalynn afford the skin removal surgery?

 

So it sounds like she got it covered for publicity, but it's also not outside the realm of possibility that if she has some sort of insurance, it could have been mostly covered. Skin surgeries post weight loss are often covered if they are deemed medically necessary. With the amount of skin she had removed, I am guessing she had rash problems, back problems and other problems that could have qualified the procedure as medically necessary. That would make the cost of the surgery much less and even more likely for a surgeon to waive the $2000 out of pocket, rather than the whole thing.

 

The issue is that we have no idea if she has a job, any insurance (possibly court mandated in the divorce decree under Gareth), Medicaid or what. We know that Olivia didn't have a job, but I agree there are missing details. Am I remembering correctly that Olivia's sister had moved in because she didn't have a job either? Because it seems like I could see their dynamic still being Olivia needing to be taken care of and watched if her sister was the one supporting them both, but I don't think that was the case.

 

I know Dr. Now isn't exactly a touchy feely kinda guy, but he seemed pretty cold tonight. There just has to be more to the story, especially with Olivia. It seems natural to me that someone would gain weight after having knee replacement, especially one that had medical complications. And then like others have noted, he slips in there something about pain medication that we had never seen. And then we had Zsalynn crying over her weight, even though she had actually lost weight, and he was rather brisk about it, rather than recognizing it was clearly an issue that required therapy.

 

On a different note, I thought it was pretty creepy too when those two guys held out the removed skin as if it was some sort of hunting trophy. Is 50+ lbs of skin the most we've seen removed so far on this show?

 

Interesting that Zsalynn seems to have joint custody with Gareth, but I guess that "sharing custody" could have just meant he gets their daughter on weekends or something. I just can't imagine that Gareth treats Zsalynn very well when they have to interact, seeing as he was such an ass when they were actually married. You have to wonder what the daughter who pretty much hated her dad from what we saw thinks of spending time with him. I can see why the show didn't go into any of this, but it felt like this was probably a big part of Zsalynn's bigger issues.

[Muffyn]

In her original episode we saw that Olivia experiences pain very intensely.  Many doctors have issues dealing with people in pain becuase there really is no way to assess what a person is feeling.  I understood her anger because he was not listening to her at all.  Severe pain can lead to depression.  For Olivia, depression leads to eating.  That''s not an uncommon response. 

 

I wonder where she was cooking at the end?  It looked like more of an industrial kitchen.  I sometimes volunteer with food programs.  Their kitchens look very similar. 

 

For Zsalynn, part of the problem may well be that there was a time in her life when she was a happy fat girl.   When she married the hideous Gareth and her weight reached a point where she could no longer do things she wanted to, then it was an issue.  But shows like this and, most likely, the group that has supported her do not tend to adhere to a possibility of happy fat people.  She may be good at 300 lbs. 

 

Also, I certainly can't blame her for having someone else do her skin surgery.  Dr. Now hacks away at people like they are overcooked meat. 

[ClareWalks]

On a different note, I thought it was pretty creepy too when those two guys held out the removed skin as if it was some sort of hunting trophy. Is 50+ lbs of skin the most we've seen removed so far on this show?

 

Thank god I wasn't looking at the screen at that moment! But to answer your question, I *think* there was once a 75-lb removal, but I can't be positive. It was in an earlier season, at any rate, and possibly included a big-ass lymphedema.

[dahling]

Poor Zsalynn, I was really rooting for her in her original episode, but found myself impatient with her on the follow up.  She can't afford to start ignoring the scale or not weighing, period. That's just a rationalization and justification to ignore the problem.  And I speak from experience.  I love what Dr. Now said about how you don't guess at your bank balance and you don't guess about your weight.  It's not quite the same, but when my son was born, I was attempting to breastfeed him exclusively, and he was not gaining weight despite what I felt were my superhuman attempts.  At around 2 weeks of age, he had not made enough progress to suit the doctor. I cried and tried to explain that he had the right amount of wet/dirty diapers and I was sure it was fine.  She point blank told me that the scale told her what she needed to know.  I mean, I truly hated her in that moment, but she was right, he needed more food.  I'm also reminded of when Penny insisted that she was losing weight and waggling her droopy upper arm skin at Dr. Now crying "Look at this skin! I KNOW I'm losing weight!" but of course the scale didn't agree.  Zsalynn needs to get it straight in her head that she's not defined by the number, and just suck it up and weigh, regularly, or she's going to start gaining and possibly wind back up where she was. 

[grumpypanda]

Reading some of your posts got me thinking about Zsalynn and I'm wondering if part of her depression stems from not being the hot fat girl anymore. Remember at one point she was into lingerie modeling and she was a star in the BBW community. She also had a husband that idolized big women. Now that she's losing weight it must be hard for her to become an average woman in a sense.

Also, I noticed with the therapist she mentioned she liked having big hips and a small waist. I think in some ways it's important to her to remain somewhat big so she doesn't completely lose her identity.

Who knows, maybe I'm way off base here.

Edited April 14, 2016 by grumpypanda

[Guest]

What, exactly, is Dr Now's specialty? If he's not an orthopedist or a radiologist, I wouldn't be trusting him to assess any knee or shoulder issue. I also wouldn't trust him to do any skin removal surgery either.

 

Zsalynn had a pretty big chip on her shoulder. I was trying to sympathize with her and just couldn't summon the interest to do so. And there's some massive backstory on Olivia this show hasn't shown us.

[notyrmomma]

OK - many thought here so bear with me....

 

So it sounds like she got it covered for publicity, but it's also not outside the realm of possibility that if she has some sort of insurance, it could have been mostly covered. Skin surgeries post weight loss are often covered if they are deemed medically necessary. With the amount of skin she had removed, I am guessing she had rash problems, back problems and other problems that could have qualified the procedure as medically necessary. That would make the cost of the surgery much less and even more likely for a surgeon to waive the $2000 out of pocket, rather than the whole thing.

 

The issue is that we have no idea if she has a job, any insurance (possibly court mandated in the divorce decree under Gareth), Medicaid or what. We know that Olivia didn't have a job, but I agree there are missing details. Am I remembering correctly that Olivia's sister had moved in because she didn't have a job either? Because it seems like I could see their dynamic still being Olivia needing to be taken care of and watched if her sister was the one supporting the

 

That grant she got was totally legit.  I was thinking of applying for it, but I assumed you had to travel somewhere and use their surgeons.  I'm cheap, but I'm not the "take risks with major surgery" cheap with my body.  As I have said here before, I am down about 165 lbs from gastric sleeve 1 1/2 years ago and I, unfortunately, need extensive plastic surgery.  I giggled a little when she said that she hoped it could all be done in one operation.  Yeah, no.  My plastic surgeon said I need three surgeries....and in case you are wondering: the first would be the lower body lift (the one where they were holding Z's skin like a trophy, which my doc said I only have about 4 lbs of skin, by the way), then would be arms/breasts, and finally a thigh lift....all for the low low price of $42,000.  The body lift by itself is $16k!  And insurance would laugh at me if I tried to put it though them.  It does happen once in a while, but you have to demonstrate you get severe infections from the hanging skin and its akin to passing an act through congress, then they pay for a tummy tuck, not a lower body lift which is what she needed and got.  

 

I would never ever ever let my bariatric surgeon do any kind of plastic surgery on me, even if it were free.  I won't even go to one that just does regular plastic surgery.  The one I  am considering specializes in skin removal post bartric surgery and I have thoroughly vetted him.

 

I assume Z works.  I remember reading about her a long time ago on facebook that she said she was actually gainfully employed at 600 lbs and resigned her position to be on the show.  That was probably the smartest decision she ever made.

 

There is totally a weird dynamic between Olivia and her sister.  If not, why wouldn't she have gone to live with her sister first instead of her brother?  I figured it was because the twin lived in Chicago, but I think she lives in Texas now.

 

Also, I felt like this episode was "lets pick on Dr. Now night."  I think both of the ladies were really rough on him.  I'm totally picking up what they are putting down about their lives being more than just about a number, but I also know that if you are the type of person who needed bariatric surgery in the first place, chances are that you weren't really good at gauging your own weight by "feel" to begin with--but maybe I'm  going out on a limb here, LOL.  I liked the correlation to checking your bank account, because Dr. Now is right, it is the same exact thing (off topic, but when I was really piss poor broke when I was just out of college, I would repeat to myself "your net worth is not your net worth" when checking my bank balance, LOL).  So maintaining your weight after bariatric surgery is like having a checking account with just enough money in it, you have to check it nearly every day!  I weigh myself each and every morning and I know that if I go more than 5 pounds about my goal weight, actions must be taken right away. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by notyrmomma

[ClareWalks]

notyrmomma I just want to say I really enjoy your posts and I congratulate you on your weight loss! That is amazing. I hope you are able to get the surgeries you need. It seems silly that insurance won't at least help with some things that are clearly medical issues. I had similar frustrations when I went through fertility treatments. (Ultimately successful, thank god, and now I deal with coaxing a 1-year-old to eat...very different from the show's experiences!)

 

Dr. Now did seem pretty cold this episode, but then again he always seems kind of cold to me. The closest he came to warmth was when he was talking to Christina about her need to gain some weight back, and that was still pretty no-nonsense. Hopefully Dr. Now's nurses are a bit more sympathetic so as to get a good cop/bad cop effect.

[Armchair Critic]

Being a chef is stressful.

Good for Olivia getting a job. But I would also worry about being around food like that would be tempting.

 

While I was glad to see Zsalynn break away from Gareth, she seems to have returned to her previous way of thinking that lead her into that fat fetish group. I wondered if this was really the first time that she wasn't the center of attention (as she was in the group) and alone.

I thought the same thing, I wonder if she had expected to get more attention from men now that she was single and losing weight and was disappointed about that.

[Patti Jean]

I think Olivia's Ortho was much more impressive than Dr Now, at least with bedside manner. I did chuckle when Dr Now put on his vascular surgeon hat and fixed the bleeders. I was waiting to have someone go ion labor and Dr Now, OB/GYN deliver, or Dr Now, DDS repair someone's teeth.

[Texasmom1970]

 

Zsalynn had a pretty big chip on her shoulder. I was trying to sympathize with her and just couldn't summon the interest to do so. And there's some massive backstory on Olivia this show hasn't shown us.

I agree with those who say Dr. Now has an abrupt bedside manner but there are a lot of people who need the tough love.

I also agree that Zsalynn has a right to choose any doctor she wants for skin removal. But she came off as bitchy and ungrateful to me. Dr. Now really puts up with a lot of shit I wouldn't. This is why I am not a doctor.

[Armchair Critic]

I think Dr. Now has to be a bit standoffish because these people are used to people enabling them and would try conning him to do what they want. But I do think he is a bit too brusque at times. I wondered also if it was a language issue since he seems to speak like English is his 2nd language.

[mrsjoe]

What, exactly, is Dr Now's specialty? If he's not an orthopedist or a radiologist, I wouldn't be trusting him to assess any knee or shoulder issue. I also wouldn't trust him to do any skin removal surgery either.

 

Dr. Now's specialty is actually Vascular Surgery if I'm remembering correctly. So helping after the knee surgery with extensive bleeding is totally up his alley. I've also seen him called in on the show "Fat Chance" to assist with some leg skin removals because I guess it can be extra dangerous to mess with the veins in the legs during the removal. But definitely his primary concern is his patients not dying and not the beauty of the final results. On that show, he was working with a plastic surgeon, so I'm wondering if on some of these surgeries, he's not actually the primary surgeon, but on hand for bleeding issues. I picture them saying "okay, we're filming, Dr. Now, look like you're doing the surgery", but who knows.

[cynicat]

I think Dr. Now has to be a bit standoffish because these people are used to people enabling them and would try conning him to do what they want. But I do think he is a bit too brusque at times. I wondered also if it was a language issue since he seems to speak like English is his 2nd language.

 

This.  He must get awfully tired and jaded with patients constantly making excuses and being manipulative.  Plus he's a surgeon and they're not usually known for being warm and fuzzy.  Either way, he's not there to be their friend, he's there to save their lives and there aren't many doctors who will operate on people this large.  I sort of enjoy it when he gives some of these people a smackdown. They are SO not used to being called on their bullshit.

[gameshowjunkie]

I thought this was a good update because it showed not everything is rainbows and unicorns after surgery. Both women have been very successful overall but as in everything in life there are going to be a lot of ups and downs.

 

I remember liking Olivia in her first episode because of one small moment - think it was before the surgery and someone asked of she could get up and she just kind of sprang up off the couch. Something about that moment showed real spirit and I think once she gets her mind set on something, she will definitely accomplish it.

 

I understand what Zsalynn says about the scale not being the be-all and end-all, but she should learn that it is an important tool. I think body fat is a much better indicator, but it's much more difficult to get an accurate reading of that. I avoid the scale when I know the news will not be good, and it's very easy for an extra 5 lbs to turn into 10 then 20, and I'm at a much lower starting point. I hope she can find some happiness and balance. And thank god she got rid of that awful husband. One of the most vile people I've ever seen on TV, and that's saying something. I hope that any potential sex partners see the show and change their minds about sleeping with him!

[IvySpice]

 

You have to wonder what the daughter who pretty much hated her dad from what we saw thinks of spending time with him. I can see why the show didn't go into any of this, but it felt like this was probably a big part of Zsalynn's bigger issues.

I'm not surprised she's depressed when her daughter was the light of her life and now she only has her half time or whatever. Losing your partner and much of your time with your child simultaneously has to be rough adjustment, even if your partner was an asshole. And she is surely worried about Hannah spending all that time with Gareth when they both think he's a jerk.

 

 

Dr. Now's specialty is actually Vascular Surgery if I'm remembering correctly. So helping after the knee surgery with extensive bleeding is totally up his alley.

That's good to know, but I call shenanigans on her orthopedic surgeon "not being on call" the DAY OF a knee replacement! That's BS. I don't think you ought to do major surgeries like that on days when you are unavailable to deal with complications.

 

Super issues with Olga and Olivia. They both seem stunted. Olga needs bariatric surgery too, and they both need serious therapy.

[Peanutbuttercup]

I wanted to take Olivia shopping for a good bra.

[Noirprncess]

This was the first supersized episode that made me think they actually read our comments and add new captions to address those comments.

[JosieThePussycat]

In her original episode we saw that Olivia experiences pain very intensely.  Many doctors have issues dealing with people in pain becuase there really is no way to assess what a person is feeling.  I understood her anger because he was not listening to her at all.  Severe pain can lead to depression.  For Olivia, depression leads to eating.  That''s not an uncommon response.

 

I was truly gritting my teeth through that portion. I had arthroscopic knee surgery, and had debilitating pain for almost a year afterward. I couldn't even stand the weight of a small bag of frozen peas meant to bring down the inflammation. And no, nothing showed up on the x-ray, nothing showed on all the other tests they could throw at it, and no one at any point accused me of lying about the pain. And it was depressing. I cried a lot of out sheer frustration. I was in my late twenties, on crutches and then a cane, for about a year.

 

If someone called me a liar based on a medical test I would've planted that cane between their eyes.

 

Then when Olivia sucked it up, said "Dr. Now was right", and got back on the horse, I thought - well, what the hell do I know. :D

 

 

I understand what Zsalynn says about the scale not being the be-all and end-all, but she should learn that it is an important tool. I think body fat is a much better indicator, but it's much more difficult to get an accurate reading of that. I avoid the scale when I know the news will not be good, and it's very easy for an extra 5 lbs to turn into 10 then 20, and I'm at a much lower starting point. I hope she can find some happiness and balance.

 

I think Zsalynn is like most people who've discovered something amazing and new, or have had a revelation that's tipped their view of their world. They tilt waaaaay over into this new line of thought, and only gradually come back to a balanced center.

 

She spent so much time - most of her life - obsessed with the number on the scale. Now she's said "Enough!" and she's defiantly refusing to look at that number at. all.

 

She's smart, and she's strong. She'll correct course, and eventually land somewhere between obsessing over the scale, and obsessing over not obsessing over the scale. She's gotta try this new mindset on in its most radical form first.

Edited April 22, 2016 by JosieThePussycat

[Armchair Critic]

What was up with that date Zsalynn had, it looked like they were meeting at a take out fish place in a strip mall? LOL

[swankie]

On Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 4:27 PM, ClareWalks said:

 

Thank god I wasn't looking at the screen at that moment! But to answer your question, I *think* there was once a 75-lb removal, but I can't be positive. It was in an earlier season, at any rate, and possibly included a big-ass lymphedema.

Speaking of lymphedema, Olivia had the worst I've seen on these shows before her surgery to remove them.  Those growths were monstrous.  In her initial episode when she showed them to her brother before she went into surgery to have them removed, you could see the alarm on his face.  He even expressed that he had never seen that before.  What I'm wondering about is the one leg that is so much larger than the other.  Is that leg ever going to be able to be made to look normal?  It almost looks like its moldy.  Is there nothing they can do for that leg?  It doesn't seem to be addressed on the show.